Incarcerated
by Mystical Authoress
Summary: Dedicated to storm101. AU fic. When Cain finds himself imprisoned with no idea of where he is, he must reluctantly turn to the help of Cassandra to break out. But with the brooding tension between the two, will they ever make it out alive?
1. Chapter 1

**Author note: I do not own Count Cain: Godchild. Nor do I own Cain or Cassandra.**

**I swear, I bet some of you guys are thinking something along the lines of 'Why...in the world...are Cain and Cassandra of all people the main people of this fic?' or 'What the heck! How in the world could these two ever cooperate!?' Calm down. This is an AU fic. Anything can happen. Just thought I would remind you readers out there.**

**Also...this fic is dedicated to storm101 because this author writes awesome fics, such as 'Quite Contrary.' I don't know if storm101 is into the genres of drama/horror/suspense/supernatural, but...I will do my best, at the very least, to make sure everyone is in character. Or at least I hope I can do so.**

**Warning: AU fic, takes place pretty much after the Castrato arc (so that means there may be spoilers), mentioned abuse, violence...probably no pairings as of now.**

**Constructive Criticism would be great, and I hope you guys enjoy reading the fic! Thanks!**

_Incarcerated_

_1. _

The sound of water droplets hitting the concrete floor was what roused Earl Cain Hargreaves from his unconsciousness. The earl sat up quickly staring around. The room was dimly lit, candles being the only light source, and water dripped from the ceiling onto the dusty, dusty ground. He could only see a door, and he had a good feeling it might be locked...

"So...you finally woke up. How long was it since you were thrown in here, Earl Hargreaves? One, two hours maybe?"

Cain immediately recognized the voice, deep and like a blood-orange, its sweet innards dripping with a sweet sort of venom. However, the voice sounded much more...tired, exhausted. He turned, recognizing the silhouette in the shadows, sitting in a corner of the room. Cain spoke in response.

"Lord Cassandra Gladstone, isn't it?" Cain demanded. The sihlouette nodded its head silently. "What is this place?"

Cassandra seemed to hesitate before speaking. "We're...locked up, Earl Hargreaves. I think that part is quite obvious. The Cardmaster ordered it...when you...humiliated me at the operahouse...I was captured a little later by your half-brother...and that...that..._Trump Card_..." he said the words 'Trump Card' with an air of disgust. Cain had a feeling Cassandra took a strong dislike to Jizabel's assistant, Cassian.

"So...you are an agent of DELILAH after all." Cain paused before speaking again. "And what part of DELILAH were you associated with, exactly? Another of the Major Arcana?"

Cassandra let out a cold laugh. "Ha! That's completely correct. I was no. 5 of the Major Arcana, the Hierophant...I initiated Jizabel into the Major Arcana...he took the position of Death. When I was captured, I was stripped of my rank, and...well...it led to this."

It was only then that Cain wondered why Gladstone wasn't making any attempt to approach him. He thought if he were Gladstone, he would have walked over to Cain and tried to strangle him, as revenge for humiliating him. But Gladstone wasn't moving from his spot at all.

"Let me see your face."

"Do you think I take orders from you!?" Cassandra rasped, obviously offended. But then his tone of voice softened. "Do you really want to see me? And are you _sure_ about that?"

"Yes and yes." Cain responded, crossing his arms and trying to seem cold, intimidating. There was silence before the older man responded.

"Fine. I'm sure you wouldn't regret it. But you better not laugh...or I may attempt to strangle you." Cain had a feeling that the threat was empty. Gladstone seemed much too weak to do so; he even appeared to have a hard time getting up at first. He finally stood, using one arm against the wall for support, and slowly, cautiously, walked forwards slightly.

Cain couldn't help but stare in _horror_ at the ex-Hierophant.

The candlelight illuminated the pale, cream-coloured wing that seemed to stick out from Cassandra's back, clots of blood from the base of the wing. There were scars all over Cassandra's chest, scratches on his face and arms, and his hands were clawed. There were burns-most likely due to contact with acid-covering the abdomen and the left side of his face, making him look very grotesque, and reminding Cain of the time when all those ladies had their eyes gouged out due to the parasites within them...

"They experimented on me...and they used the whip on me...just like they did to you and Jizabel." Cassandra's voice seemed to quiver slightly. "And now they've left the both of us down here to **_die_**."


	2. Chapter 2

_2._

"_Well?" _Cassandra gave a cold glare as he made his way over to the 17-year-old. "Don't you have anything to say...like 'That's _horrible,_' or are you going to laugh, because of what Alexis did to me?" One of his clawed hands snagged onto Cain's shirt collar, pulling him close and ending up with the two staring at each other's faces up close.

Cain observed the 35-year-old's facial expression. His eyebrows seemed to furrow with the disgust of even _touching _Cain, and as intimidating as the older man's hot breath on his face and the burns oozing light-coloured pus would be, there was something in the dark amber eyes; a sign of desperation, a sign of weakness, as if trying to scream '_Get me out of this hell.' _

Cain's golden-green eyes shifted towards the cream coloured wing, observing it carefully. The appendage didn't seem to move a bit. Perhaps Cassandra hadn't learned to use it; or that limb was already dead and definitely not meant to be used. Either way, Cain had a good idea of using it to his advantage; to make Cassandra let go of him.

Cain grabbed onto the wing with right hand, squeezing it as hard as he could. Cassandra let out a scream of pain, only tightening his grip on Cain's collar and puncturing holes in the shirt with his claws.

"Let-let go!" the older man rasped, obviously trying to sound angry but it wasn't working. The older man seemed to loosen his grip on Cain, but only slightly. "I-I swear if you _don't_ let go; I _will _strangle you!" Cassandra's other clawed hand tried to reach for the earl's slender throat, but Cain grabbed that arm by the wrist and held on tight. Cain gripped even harder on the appendage, cutting it with his long nails and causing it to start bleeding as Cassandra let out another yowl of pain. "St-stop it! Just-" he let out another pained shriek, this one echoing off the walls of the room.

Cain took a deep breath before responding. "Tell me everything about what Alexis did to you and I'll let go you _fool_." There was a bit more of a bite that seeped into his words, but Cain was sure that it didn't matter right now. He had control of the current situation; as long as Cassandra would stay submissive, he could get some invaluable information about what the organization Delilah could be planning to do.

Cassandra seemed quite reluctant at first; biting his lip in pain when Cain squeezed even harder upon the wing. Slowly, cautiously, he pulled his arm away from the 17-year-old's grip first, before releasing his grip on Cain's torn shirt collar-and roughly pushing the earl to the ground. Cain sat up, staring at Cassandra before the older man spoke with some sort of disgust, leaning against the lichen-covered wall with both his clawed hands digging into the stone, and slumping into a sitting position.

"You never told me I couldn't do _that_." Cassandra went silent, taking a few deep breaths and glancing at his bleeding wing before speaking. "I don't remember all of what happened exactly with the ex-experimentation, but I remember the pain, and what Alexis told me before they even began. I remember being suspended by wires, or chains, and I remember writhing in pain when they sewed this-" he pointed to the wing as well as he could, "This...thing into my back. Everything looked really blurry whenever I woke up during the experiments, and I remember feeling the acid burning into my skin, like flames devouring a piece of paper. I remember that Alexis was planning to use me as one of those stupid...stupid dolls." his voice seemed to quiver again when he said the word 'dolls.' "The brat Mikalia was there, too, watching while I suffered. I think they set up the experiment to fail; I remember Alexis telling the others to 'make sure I was in as much pain as possible' and to 'make me as deformed as possible.' Well, it obviously _worked _in _that way _because now I can't get myself to look at any _reflection_ or even strangle you, without you grabbing onto me like a drunken man, attempting to _tear _the wing off me, and making me bleed even more than I needed to."

"What? Tear off your wing? I wasn't-" Cain stopped mid-sentence when Cassandra pointed at the wing again, before slowly turning so his back faced Cain. Cassandra was right; the wing was torn and it wasn't just where Cain had cut into the wing with his nails. At where the wing stuck to the skin, it appeared as if it was torn open, and blood trickled down the scarred back like honey dripping from a beehive. When the earl looked closer, it was obvious that some of the surgical thread attaching the wing to the shoulder blade was torn. Cain took a deep breath. "I didn't mean to do that."

"Really." Cassandra snapped, cringing when Cain touched the wing. He stood, attempting to get away from the earl. "Stop...don't...don't do that! It'll just tear more and I'll end up bleeding to death...I'm not sure if you want that or not." the older man sighed as Cain pulled his arm away. "What do we do now about this? Continue this argument and die down here? What else can we do-" he put a clawed hand to his mouth, backing into the wall and falling to his knees. "Not-not now! No..." he let out another pained gasp before yellow vile dribbled out of his mouth and onto the floor. Cain couldn't help but look away in disgust; this was definitely not what he wanted to see.

Cain observed Cassandra a bit more carefully (after getting used to hearing and seeing vomit being spit out by the older man). He did look awfully pale, almost a sickly tone. There were dark circles about the amber eyes, and the way his body was shivering; it wasn't just due to how cold the room was.

Cain waited until Cassandra was done with all of the vile before he asked. "When did you get sick?"

"I think after the experimentation...or was it beforehand?" Cassandra paused, obviously somewhat confused. "I think-I think it's possible that Jizabel may have injected a deadly virus so I would die faster. I'm not sure if he actually did or not, or if I just caught this fever myself."

Before Cain could respond, the door creaked open. The two turned to see a woman with tan skin, standing in the doorway. She wore a half-mask over her face (to cover the scars she has, Cain assumed) and she did not wear the rags Cain had seen her in before; no, she was wearing a fine shirt with black pants. What came to their attention was that she was holding a whip in her right hand. Both men immediately knew who it was.

"Moon."


	3. Chapter 3

_3._

_How the mighty have fallen. _Cain couldn't help but think that when he first looked at Cassandra. Sure, the older man was, well, **vile**, considering the atrocious massacre he had caused and abusing one of Maryweather's close friends, but he also couldn't help but think of the situation the ex-Hierophant of Delilah must have been in during the torture. From a wealthy overlord with all the power he could ever have, to this deformed _creature _that Cain barely considered human, one couldn't possibly help but show at least a smidgen of pity.

_This man, so **full** of himself, is disgusting, maybe worse than Alexis! _A little voice shouted in Cain's head. _He's abused your sister's best friend, killed thousands of people, and nearly killed your manservant and your sister in the process! And you pity him!? _

Despite these thoughts, Cain couldn't help but take notice of the way Gladstone's expression in the dark amber eyes took. Despite the rest of the ex-Hierophant's face showing disgust, frustration, and every other emotion Cain had seen thus far, the eyes **never** wavered from the complete shame and humiliation that shone through. Heck, Cassandra looked like he might have started crying when he mentioned the part when Alexis told him they were going to use him as a 'doll.'

No matter how much Cain was disgusted with Gladstone, he had to remember that the older man was just another pawn used by Alexis to achieve whatever wicked goal he had. Another pawn...just like Jizabel, Meridianna, the Coffinmaker, and so on.

* * *

"When did you get sick?"

"I think after the experimentation...or was it beforehand?" Cassandra paused, obviously somewhat confused. "I think-I think it's possible that Jizabel may have injected a deadly virus so I would die faster. I'm not sure if he actually did or not, or if I just caught this fever myself."

It was then when the Moon card of the Major Arcana had opened the door and stood in the doorway, casually grasping the whip in one hand.

"Moon." Cassandra growled, glaring at her with all the hatred he could muster. Cain could obviously see it was a ploy; it was obviously the older man did not want to be seen in this vulnerable state. "What do you want?" he snapped, crossing his arms and shaking his head in disgust. "Was the Cardmaster too lazy to come down here himself? He doesn't want to see his son?" he lowered his arms as he spoke, and the glare on his face seemed to read _'Just go away. I don't need you to intrude on the current situation.'_

Moon ignored the questions; her face as blank as a doorknob. "You know perfectly well what I'm doing here for, Cassandra." Without warning, a blur of a thin, black rope was seen and Cassandra started to bleed from just below the collar bone. The older man cringed in pain; backing up into the lichen-covered wall as it continued. Cain himself couldn't help but stare in horror, no matter what his senses were telling him to do.

_Don't look, don't look, **don't look!**_

Every lash of the whip that Gladstone took; Cain couldn't help but remember _those times, _when his _father_ would abuse him nightly, with the whip and while chanting Bible verses aloud. The only difference was that Moon didn't have a Bible, and that the new thin, bloody scars were being created across Gladstone's front rather than his back.

_How long has he suffered under my father's hands? A day? A couple hours?_

"Look-at-me-" Cassandra's stuttering voice was hoarse from the yelling, and when Cain finally stared the older man in the eyes, they weren't full of just pain and shame and all of that. There was a spark of determination somehow; and for some reason the teen found that a bit terrifying. Cassandra eventually stopped yelling and gritted his teeth as the pain continued to wash over him, but his eyes never closed. Instead, he soon broke eye contact with Cain and stared at Moon straight in the eyes. And before Cain could comprehend what was going on, there was a blur and a scream and Cain found himself watching Cassandra restrain Moon with the whip tightly wrapped about her throat.

"Let-go-" Moon managed to start demanding but she then let out a pained gasp as the older man continued to choke her. Her hands grasped at the whip about her neck, trying to tear it off, but the grip was too strong.

"What are you doing!?" Cain shouted at Gladstone, his voice full of confusion and shock as his golden-green eyes widened in disbelief. How did Gladstone get this strong so quickly? Was he just bearing all the pain and playing possum to distract Moon? Or was this surprising strength something fueled by the pain and the anger?

"What do you think I'm doing, boy?" Gladstone snapped back, continuing the vicious act upon the Moon. "Either you help me and get _revenge_ on Alexis, or you stand aside and get _killed_ later! Your choice, Cain!"

What? Gladstone was trying to...help him get revenge on Alexis? Cain supposed that Gladstone had a point, considering the older man was disfigured beyond restoration, but the thought of _helping_ his _enemy_ disgusted him slightly.

_Think, Cain! You're helping your worst enemy. Why would you dare help him? He might stab you in the back later!_

Cain immediately shook off the thought, just as a loud _**crack** _was heard. The Moon collapsed to the ground, completely lifeless.

Cassandra spat at the fallen corpse and removed the sharp, curved blade that had been attached to her belt. "Take it." Cassandra spoke, handing it to Cain. "It's not the best weapon, but we'll need anything we can find that can be...useful." he coughed slightly, falling to one knee. "I figure that exerting myself too much-as you saw just now-obviously takes more of a strain on me than most people...it's probably the disadvantage I have."

"You should take the weapon, then." Cain responded, trying to shove the blade back into Cassandra's hands after helping him up. "What if anyone from Delilah attacks us while you're exhausted? You could use it to stab someone, even if you're, well, oozing pus and blood."

Cassandra pointed one of his clawed fingers at Cain's forehead. "I've got my body as a weapon. You don't. Therefore, you're taking it, and this is the end of this discussion." He lowered his arm, shoved the blade back into Cain's hands, and turned towards the open doorway; staring at it briefly before looking back at Cain. "Now, are we to escape and find Alexis, or not? We have some revenge to execute."


	4. Chapter 4

**Author note: ...I know, I should have had this chapter out by now. I apologize for the delay and despite this chapter being shorter than usual, I hope it makes up for its lateness.**

**Also, about this fic, it's probably going to be pretty short (I'm shooting for fifteen chapters at the maximum). I've got an idea for the ending already. If you were looking for a happy ending...well...let's just say you might have been looking at the wrong fic.**

* * *

_4._

"This way."

The two dashed down the corridor as silently as they could; although it was difficult since their footsteps resounded in the nearly empty hall. Cain noticed that Gladstone looked behind them briefly sometimes; probably to check if anyone was following them-

"Stay back, will you?" Gladstone growled, grabbing Cain by the mouth and arm and pulling him back. "Unfortunately, there are a few of those...Trump Cards. I'll take care of them." Gladstone let go of Cain to walk towards the trump cards nearby, but Cain pulled him back. "What is it now, Earl Hargreaves?" he snapped.

"Are you crazy?" Cain whispered back frantically. "They could kill you. Or alert other Trump Cards. Or both."

"You underestimate me again." Cassandra responded, roughly pushing the teen aside. "Remember, I was experimented on. My body is practically a weapon, like I said earlier. Or do you have too short a memory?" with that remark, he turned towards the Trump Cards, which hadn't taken any attention towards Cassandra...yet. And then he struck.

There were no screams that resounded in the hall. The cracking of bones and the slicing of limbs were the only noises one could hear. Cain didn't know what to do, what to say. His whole body froze like the rivers in the winter. _Never mind about Gladstone just merely looking inhuman...the way he's killing these people, just like he murdered Moon; it's animalistic. It's anything **but** human._

Cassandra stared down upon the bloody corpses with his dark amber eyes; full of obvious disgust. "So," he muttered quietly, turning his gaze to his blood-smeared claws. "This is what I can do now? Destroy any mere human by my own bare hands? How..._sick_." He lay one palm against the wall, taking a deep breath and closing his eyes briefly. He then turned to Cain. "Let's keep going."

* * *

The two had been silent the entire time. More corpses of Trump Cards and even a few Minor Arcana ended up in hallways, bloody and torn like the first victims that fell to Cassandra's wrath. With every kill, the older man just kept getting drenched in more of the scarlet, life giving liquid. Cain thought this sneaking about would go on forever, with nothing but silence and dead corpses until-

"I can't believe this sometimes." Cain looked up at Gladstone, who spoke. The older man sighed, leaning against the wall. "If we were stuck in the prison only a few days ago; I probably would have already strangled you. Either that, or you would have poisoned me by now. Am I correct?" he paused, biting his lip slightly before briefly closing his eyes. "How did we end up from enemies to..._this_, in a matter of a few hours or less?"

Cain sighed. The older man had a point about the whole thing. It was true; Cain probably would have strangled Cassandra or poisoned him if they were imprisoned days earlier. "I hate to admit this, but I honestly don't know-" Gladstone clamped a hand over the teen's mouth, his eyes wide with alarm.

"It's one of the Major Arcana." he muttered quietly. "Justice...shoot. Why now?" He let go of Cain, looking around the corner briefly before turning back towards Cain. "If any Trump Cards see you, just run. I'll keep them at bay." he whispered before turning towards Justice.

All Cain could do was listen as another throat was slashed, and a thud was heard afterwards. Slowly, deftly, Cain turned the corner and stared at Cassandra, who was on a knee and was peering at the bloodied corpse of a woman with long, dark brown hair. Roses of blood bloomed from the dead woman's chest and neck, and her black and plum-coloured dress was torn and bloody as well.

Cassandra put a hand to the woman's neck, as if searching for a pulse, and then turned to Cain, standing up as he spoke.

"She's dead." his voice seemed to quiver again, just like when Cain had first seen Gladstone, seemingly weak and desperate at the time. Cassandra just looked at Cain with fear written on his face. "Now Alexis will be out to kill me...killing one of the Major Arcana is a terminal offense. No doubt that Delilah will surely wish for my death now." he shook his head quietly.

Cain paused for a moment, before speaking.

"You didn't really want to kill her out of all people, did you?"

All Cassandra did was shake his head again before walking down the hall.


	5. Chapter 5

_5._

The two continued to stay silent as they cautiously crept down the hall.

_What's with Gladstone? _Cain wondered silently. _Every time he's killed someone so far, he seems to sink deeper into remorse, especially when he killed that woman earlier; Justice, whatever her name is called. He's changed. He's not really the same person he was before all of this. _

_But why? I still don't understand why he would want to help me-_

"You're thinking about me, aren't you?" Cain looked up at Gladstone, who had finally spoken up after a long period of silence.

"How-" Cain started.

"It still seems I am able to look into the minds of others. At least I retain one of my old abilities, despite the fact that the operation was supposed to strip me of my powers. I used to be able to look into people's pasts as well. I know what Jizabel has been through, as well as the rest of the Major Arcana, through the Ritual of Regeneration." Gladstone muttered quietly, taking a deep breath before continuing. "Justice's original name is Celeste Helena Octavia. She had abilities much like mine, with the exception of looking into other's pasts. I suppose you could say we had a mutual bond." he gave a sad chuckle, his eyes averting the teen's gaze. "Really, it's a shame I did not converse with her much. I didn't think one day I would kill her."

He let out a silent sigh before the two continued to walk down the hall.

* * *

They reached a pair of two heavy doors.

"This is where the Cardmaster usually is. Then again, almost every time I've seen him, he's there." Cassandra turned to Cain. He paused before his eyes widened in realization. "Oh no." he muttered quietly.

"What?" Cain whispered back.

"Justice. I _killed_ her."

"I already know that-"

"You don't understand!" Gladstone hissed back, cutting off the teen. "I killed Justice! She's the only one that had control over Riff's personality, and I don't know-" he stopped midsentence when he saw the shock on Cain's face.

"Wait...what?" Cain choked out. "Riff's...personality?"

Gladstone shook his head. "It's best if we talk about this later-"

Cain grabbed him by the collar and roughly pulled him closer so that the two were making close eye contact. "You are going to tell me about this." Cain growled. "What do you mean by Riff's personality?"

"Do you know about Riff's family dying in a fire?" Gladstone asked.

Cain nodded. "Riff told me that his brother Clyde set the fire and-"

"That's _not_ true." Gladstone cut off the teen again. "Riff was the one who set the fire. Not his brother." he paused befoer continuing. "His memories were slightly altered when Justice changed his personality. The Riff that serves you isn't the real Riff from the past. The real him...is much more power-hungry. _'Dangerous'_ would be a good word to fit him. But when Justice altered his personality to become someone much more kind and compassionate, Riff was so full of remorse that he tried to commit suicide by slitting his wrists."

As Cassandra continued to explain, Cain's thoughts grew more wild and confused.

_Riff...set the fire? Why didn't he...Why didn't he tell me the truth? Why Riff? I don't understand..._

"Riff didn't realize it when he told you." Gladstone spoke, and Cain knew that the older man was reading his mind again. "He wanted to block out that memory. He really did. And I suppose he succeeded..."

Cain slammed the older man against a nearby wall, and Cassandra nearly let out a cry of pain. Cain cringed, realizing he didn't mean to do that.

_"I'm sorry, Cain."_ Cassandra rasped quietly, struggling to get up. He then let out a weak cough, before bile started to drip from his mouth again. "I'm-_sorry_-" he couldn't say anymore, as he continued to cough and vomit and choke on the yellowish-brown vile.

Before Cain could do or say anything to try to calm down the older man, however, something heavy hit the back of his head and he blacked out.


	6. Chapter 6

**Author note: Oh gosh...I am SO SORRY! (insert cringe here) I know it's been almost forever since I've updated this fic, but I had my reasons...**

**1. I was busy. I mean, all of us have lives outside of fanfiction, right?**

**2. I was working on Halloween fics and updating other stories such as 'Monster,' my Super Smash bros fic...**

**3. I almost completely lost my inspiration for this fic and suffered severe writers block, too...but I finally remembered what I was going to do for this fic, and I'm up and writing this again!**

**Again, I am sorry about the delay, I will try to get the next chapter up soon, and thank you guys so much for your patience!**

* * *

_6._

"Lord Cain?"

Cain blinked a few times, his vision fuzzy at first.

"Lord Cain? Are you awake?"

Cain immediately realized whose voice it was. He turned his head, having realized that his arms and legs were tied.

"Riff? Is that you?" Cain asked quietly. The silver-haired manservant nodded in response. "For all you didn't tell me about, you lousy servant, I should cut your paycheck." Cain muttered, rememmbering what Gladstone told him previous to getting knocked out.

"What?" Riff didn't seem to understand. "What do you mean, mi'lord?" It was obvious the manservant was quite confused about this.

"I told Cain that you were the one to set the fire, Riffael." the two turned to see Cassandra across from them, his arms chained to the wall. The older man coughed a little bit, before continuing. "And that is true. The personality you think you've always had was not what you were before you served your master."

"What the-" It took Riff a moment to realize who it was. "Lord Gladstone!? But-how-" he sputtered.

"It's too long a story to tell, though I can try to shorten the explanation." Cassandra responded, before coughing again. "Jizabel and that Trump Card of his captured me, was ordered by the Cardmaster to make me deformed beyond repair, and this is the result. Happy, Riffael?"

Riff was speechless, too shocked to say a thing in reply.

Cain sighed. "If you remember so well, Cassandra, can you tell me what happened after I blacked out?"

"Jizabel found us, and I was too weak to kill him. End of story." Cassandra uttered quietly.

"Thank you." Cain muttered sarcastically. "Where are we?"

Cassandra bit his lip, hesitating before speaking. "This is the same place where I got deformed, Earl Hargreaves. This is the place where I was tortured, and-" He glanced upwards, before finishing. "I was bound up there while they experimented on me." He growled, his face turning into a snarl. "There's no doubt that Jizabel will probably be back here soon and ready to torture me again."

"And...why did you not say 'us?' I thought-" Riff started, but Cassandra interrupted him.

"The Cardmaster gave an order long ago not to touch Cain. It's probably because he wants to torture Cain himself. I doubt the Cardmaster would want to kill you off so quickly, Riffael, but it depends on your personalities, and how ruthless your other personality may be now. I killed Justice not too long ago; it's uncertain whether your old personality will come back or if you're stuck like you are right now for the rest of your existence."

"Who's Justice?" Riff just seemed even more confused about the issue concerning him.

Cassandra sighed. "I'll explain later, if your personality stays the same. We have to get out of here-" He then let out a gasp, as if trying to breathe.

"Lord Gladstone!?" Riff was alarmed, and he struggled against his bonds a bit. "Are you-"

He was interrupted by the sound of vomiting.

Riff cringed as more yellowish-brown bile dribbled out of Cassandra's mouth, and Cain immediately took notice that he might have seen hints of red as well.

"Your condition is getting worse, Cassandra." The three turned to see Jizabel step into the room, accompanied by the black-haired Trump Card that served him, Cassian. As Jizabel paced towards Cassandra, Cassian followed. Cain took notice that the Trump Card seemed a bit pale, and that he occasionally grapsed at his chest. Jizabel looked at Cassandra in the eyes. "Did you really think you could escape, even if you teamed up with my younger half-brother? The more you have been running about, the faster the virus has been spreading through your body. Whether Cain decided to ally with you or not, you would still be too weak to get out of here."

"Do you think I cared about myself actually escaping, Jizabel? The reason I'm helping your half-brother is to get revenge on Alexis; that's why!" Cassandra snapped back, giving a quick cough before he continued. "I honestly don't really care anymore about what happens to me. Just as long as Alexis is dead by the time I'm dead!"

Jizabel gave him a sharp glare, sharp enough that it could cut through anything, before he picked up a cleaver from a nearby table. "Then," Jizabel spoke, "You probably won't mind if I cut off your dead wing, won't you?"

Immediately Cassandra's eyes widened in shock, before letting out a plea of mercy, but Jizabel would have none of it.

"Doctor?" Cassian spoke up. "Don't you think it's a bit harsh-"

"Cassian. I know what I'm doing." Jizabel responded coldly, before turning back to Cassandra.

All Cain, Cassian and Riff could do was watch as Jizabel brought the cleaver down upon the appendage.


	7. Chapter 7

_7._

Everyone was silent as blood dripped from Cassandra's back. Cain couldn't help but glance briefly at the wing, now on the ground, before looking at Cassandra's face. The older man looked quite pained, but there was something in his eyes that the teen could not interpret, until Cassandra let out a hoarse laugh. Jizabel seemed a bit surprised at this sort of reaction, and the same went for everyone else.

"Jizabel. Don't tell me you completely forgot already about how my new abilities work." Cassandra spoke quietly, taking a deep breath before continuing. "The more I am powerful in terms of those abilities to be able to kill and sense the enemy, the weaker my health is. You cut off my wing, and I'm bleeding quite a bit; not to also mention that you told us just now that I am infected with some sort of virus because of your doing, and it has been making me weaker since you put me into that prison earlier. Think of how weak my health is now, and how poweful I must be due to that."

Jizabel immediately realized his mistake too late, as Cassandra pulled apart the chains binding him, and lunged at the doctor. Cassian rushed foward, and ended up being tackled by Cassandra. The two struggled and grappled for a bit, stabbing and screaming and snarling at each other; both of them seemingly wanting to kill the other.

"Can't I just _kill_ him, doctor!?" Cassian was heard screaming while Cassandra shouted to Cain,

"Don't just _stand_ there! Unbind yourself and your stupid manservant already!"

Cain looked around to find something, when he realized Jizabel had dropped the cleaver when Cassandra lunged at him just a moment ago. Slowly, cautiously, he reached out with his foot to try to grasp the handle...

That was when the Trump Card and ex-Head Priest tripped over the teen's leg and fell to the ground, both groaning in pain. Cassandra tried to stand, but ended up on his knees right before he vomited again, more specks of blood appearing in the yellowish-brown bile.

"Cassandra. We made a bet before. If Cain did submit to you, I would give up my freedom. And if Cain won over you, I would take 'everything you own.' The only thing I haven't taken is your life, as far as I can think of." Jizabel spoke, adjusting his glasses before kicking the cleaver a bit farther away from Cain so that the teen couldn't reach it. "I will make another bet with you. It's only fair since you came all this way..." Jizabel strolled towards a nearby cage, and opened it. The creature that crawled out was a familiar figure to everyone.

"L-Leroy?" Cain asked in disbelief. "Leroy? How-" He turned to Jizabel. "What did you do to him!?"

Riff was too shocked to say anything at all as he looked at the young boy-turned-creature. Leroy's eyes had turned a dark shade of crimson, reflecting complete hatred when the eyes met Cassandra's own. Much like Cassandra, his skin looked like as if it was rotting, and his small hands had become claws.

"I did to him the same thing I did to Cassandra, including infecting him with the virus. He was so _eager_ to get his revenge for what Cassandra did to him. Surely you remember _Latisha, _don't you, Cassandra?" Jizabel spoke, a mocking, cruel smile slowly curling up on his face.

Cassandra's eyes widened, and his body trembled as the young boy growled at him.

"I tell you this. Succesfully kill him, and I'll give you the antidote, as well as you telling me to do whatever you want. Fail, and...You're dead." Jizabel motioned a sort of hand gesture to Leroy, and the boy leapt at Cassandra, the two going down in a series of bites, scratches and punches.

A sharp pain stabbed into Riff's head, and the manservant let out a groan. Jizabel growled quietly to himself.

"It looks like Cassandra was right about Riffael." Cain heard Jizabel mutter under his breath.

"Can't you do anything to stop it-" Cain started, but Jizabel's facial expression of frustration stopped him. Cain couldn't help but think that his older half-brother might be a bit alarmed, even.

"I can't do anything to stop it, especially now that Justice is dead. It won't be long until the Riff you knew becomes who he was before, and assumes his position as the Tower."

The snapping of ropes was heard, and the two brothers turned to see Riff stand up.

"What do you mean, 'It won't be long?' The Riff all of you knew is now truly _dead_." The Tower spoke, a smirk forming upon his face.


End file.
